Weapon
by Ayze
Summary: /Weap"on/ n. An instrument of offensive of defensive combat; something to fight with; anything used, or designed to be used, in destroying, defeating, or injuring an enemy, as a gun, a sword, etc. //OC Fic// Rewright in progress
1. Ch 1 : Purpose

Here I am again. Finally decided to write another story after my other got deleted a few years back. So I'm trying my hand at another story. I'm going to do my best to continue this story. Reviews and critisism are welcomed. Please no flames. Also, I'm depicting the characters as humans. So please no reviews that say something complaining that they need to be what they are.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic the hedgehog series. The only thing I own is parts of the story plot and the character "Nightshade".

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A boy lay asleep with no blanket to keep him warm. Not that he needed it. His chest slowly rising and falling as he breathed silently. He had various and notable features as he slept. Black hair with natural gray highlights covered his eyes, though it seemed to style on it's own as it spiked backwards, seeming to curve at the edges. The hair went around his ears, to reveal his pointed ears. He wore a plain dark gray shirt as he slept, with black jeans to go with it.

On the floor by where he slept, a pair of peculiar shoes lay, with a dark gray interface with it's notable features black. Beside it, a black longcoat hang on a doorknob.

The boy stirred lightly, his facial features remaining the same as it had: of an innocent boy dreaming. His facial expression had no strain from anger or sadness. His face seemed unreadable.

A seemingly sinister voice echoed through the room from an intercom beside the boy.

"Wake up, Nightshade, and report to the main chamber." The voice of Dr. Ivo Robotnik rang in the boy's ears.

The boy named "Nightshade" opened his eyes. His opening eyelids revealed eyes with a black iris, with ominous white pupils.

"Yes." Nightshade said. He then sat upright, his eyes unaffected by the morning sun. He slipped on his shoes and properly put his longcoat on. He headed towards the main chambers of the vast laboratory.

He arrived within the minute. He soon saw his creator. "Robotnik." Nightshade said.

A man seemingly in his late thirties turned to Nightshade. He had a long, red mustache and his eyes were covered with goggles. He had another set of thicker, darker goggles atop his bald head. His nose it's usual tinge of red. He wore a strange red lab coat that had large, yellow circles as a design, with his gut visible. He wore black boots with silver fasts and black pants. He smiled with a sinister laugh upon seeing Nightshade. "I have found another Super Emerald for you to retrieve." The doctor proceeded to motion to the screen that normally showed his plans. It showed coordinates along with a picture of a large red emerald. Nightshade nodded.

Robotnik then went to a holding case and opened it. Inside, lay a seven emeralds, though noticeably smaller than the emerald shown on the screen. He picked up a red emerald and handed it to the boy. The boy accepted it, and held it in his hand. He closed his eyes as he muttered under his breath.

"Chaos Control."

In an instant, the boy vanished in a red light. The doctor watched the screen as the boy appeared near the emerald on the screen. Robotnik watched as Nightshade reached for the large red emerald.

As soon as Nightshade made contact with the emerald, red flames emerged from the emerald. Nightshade's hand that was now holding the emerald was being burned, though his young face showed no pain. The flames of the emerald intensified as seconds passed. Soon, the emerald ceased to repel Nightshade. His burned hand soon healed in a matter of seconds, with no trace of any previous injury.

"Hey!" A voice yelled.

Nightshade turned to see a man in purple wearing a brown top hat, with a black belt that had an empty gun holster. He aimed his gun at Nightshade. He smirked, revealing his large canine tooth.

"I'd drop that if I were you." The man smirked.

Nightshade said nothing. He just looked at the man. After observing, Nightshade pulled out a gun from his longcoat. The man blinked.

"H-hey! I don't think that we need to bring weapons into this…" The man said nervously.

Nightshade said nothing as he readied the gun. He pointed it at the man.

"Hey! Wait!" The man panicked. It was his personal policy that he didn't kill kids.

Nightshade said nothing as he pulled the trigger.

A loud bang was heard throughout the area, and the man fell, red blood emerging from his chest. He screamed in pain.

Nightshade said nothing and his face didn't change as he was engulfed in a red light again, and appeared back at Robotnik's lab.

The doctor grinned as he took both emeralds from Nightshade. "Good work. Return to your cell. I'll call again when I find another Super Emerald." Robotnik told Nightshade.

The boy looked at Robotnik for a second, and walked back to the room where he had been previously sleeping. He walked over to the window. He looked at the area. It was barren, with little life. He was in a high, protected room. He could easily see for many miles, though saw no other life than the near-dead plants and critters. He had been confined in this room for most of his life, going out whenever The doctor needed him. He blinked as he saw a cloud of dust, with a cobalt blue streak leading it.

. 

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So what do you think? It's my first shot at fanfiction. And reviewers will be thanked when the stories are complete. Oh, and I'm not sure if this may turn out correctly for the format. But it's just mu first shot.

-Ayze


	2. Ch 2 : A Loss

Hello again. Ayze here. The second chapter. Sorry it's been so slow for readers, but I'm on internet restrictions at the moment. Anyways, this chapter will probably kill the story so far because what happens is overused.. Anyways…

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or items from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. I only own the plot and the character "Nightshade"

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Nightshade watched in awe as he saw the cobalt blue streak lead a long cloud of dust. He blinked in a childish curiosity as he saw that it was headed towards where the doctor's base was located, which was where Nightshade was within himself. He heard a distant grunt from the room below, and only took a quick glance to see where the sound emitted from.

He turned his curious gaze back to see the cobalt streak, though his small window, only to find that the dust cloud remained with nothing leading it. He heard a loud crash from the same room he had heard the light grunt. Quickly following the sound, Doctor Robotnik's voice shattered the brief silence Nightshade had in a hurriedly voice over the intercom.

"Nightshade! Quickly report to the main lab!" The voice ended.

Nightshade did as he was told, and bolted down the steps leading to the designated area. He blinked as he saw a metallic blue form standing before a defenseless Robotnik. It had a humanoid shape, covered in cobalt blue shielding. His hands and the lower half of his face were covered with a silver finish. His eyes were fully black, with a red, glowing iris showing. A visor came down the middle of his eye, trailing backwards to merge with the few other spines that were built into the head, seeming to merge with the small amount of spines on it's back. A cobalt blue mouthpiece covered where his mouth would be. His feet were red, with a silver line going down the side. There was a circular vent in it's chest, with a yellow surrounding. Nightshade noticed that this robot could last for many years, and not lose it's tune. The robotic newcomer noticed Nightshade. He seemed to smirk.

"So, this is your grand creation?" It said in a mocking voice.

The doctor looked up at the robot, his eyes peering through his dark goggles, afraid that the robot may demolish his plans.

"It doesn't seem much. I guess I'll just be rid of it. It doesn't seem capable of such things that would benefit."

Doctor Robotnik blinked at the robot's assumption. He let out a light, yet low laugh. "Metal Sonic. This creation may surpass even you. Just try it."

The creature named Metal sonic seemed to laugh. "You think that this little runt could be more stronger than me? We'll see about that." He then started towards Nightshade.

Nightshade donned his black gloves once again. The doctor smirked at this. 'Metal Sonic doesn't realize that Nightshade is infused with the power of Chaos himself. Adding to the fact that I created him from my grandfather's near-exact charts for Shadow, he hass almost surpassed Shadow himself…' He smirked. "Nightshade. Initiate battle mode."

Nightshade nodded. He closed his eyes briefly. When they opened again, his pupils were a bright, glowing white. He raised his right arm, and immediately, the Chaos Emeralds began to levitate around him.

Metal Sonic watched the young weapon. 'So it can use the power of the Chaos emeralds… Though, whenever all seven are used, it is easy to know what happens next.' A memory bank of witnessing Sonic glowing a golden color upon receiving all seven Emeralds played on it's own. Metal ceased the memory. He knew what to expect. He seemed to gasp when he saw something different than expected.

Nightshade was using all seven Chaos Emeralds power, but wasn't using them as he had seen Sonic used them. In Nightshade's gloved hands, a small ball of energy formed, glowing intensely. The power seemed to rise from his palms, giving the small orbs an illusion of being a white flame. Nightshade lunged towards Metal Sonic, the Chaos energy in his palms. He shot one arm forward.

Metal had no time to react to the boy's blinding speed. 'I hadn't anticipated that he could find alternate ways of the Chaos Emeralds power…' He thought as he raised an arm in defense. 'He is concentrated the power. When Sonic transformed, he enhanced all his abilities to the max. But this kid focused all the power into a small orb shape…' He let out a loud screech as his arm fell to the floor, oil spurting from it, the metal melting from Nightshade's attack. He glared at Nightshade. 'I remember a basic program the doctor put into me… Does it still work.' He thought as he watched Nightshade land, waiting for Metal's next move. Metal's eyes went black for a brief moment before the red iris returned. 'I can initiate it, but only once.' The circular vent began to glow an ominous blue color. Nightshade saw thin, and began to charge another attack. Nightshade jumped, and stuck the attack into the glowing vent.

If Metal Sonic could grin, he would now. Nightshade had a confusing look on his young face. His eyes widened as he found he couldn't withdraw his arm. The glow of his eye dimmed, as he realized that Metal Sonic was draining the energy the Chaos Emeralds supplied through him. He struggled to remove his arm from the vent, when Metal Sonic dug his fingers on his remaining arm into Nightshade's neck.

Metal Sonic's hand began to glow. He grinned as he felt not only the power of the Chaos Emeralds go into him, but now, he was absorbing the powers of the boy.

Robotnik watched in horror as he saw his creation beaten by his own creation. Though he realized something. 'But if Metal Sonic does this… then that means…' The doctor's thoughts were never complete, as Metal Sonic had finished what he intended.

Metal Sonic made a light chuckle as his body was raised into the air. White glowing streaks began to form on his spines, while black shoulder blades formed on their own. His arm fused back to their place. After the transformation, he emitted an aura of power. Nightshade fell to the ground, eyes closed, drained of his power. Metal Sonic looked at Robotnik, who watched in fear.

"So. You were able to actually infuse the power of the God of destruction into the boy. The power of Chaos." He said. His eyes glowed an eerie red color. "Though it's not rendered useless now. Seeing that I now hold the power he once had…" Metal raised a now clawed hand, lightning emitted from it. He directed the attack towards Robotnik. The doctor screamed, and fell to the ground, knocked out. He then looked over to Nightshade.

Metal picked up Nightshade by the collar of his shirt. He looked at Nightshade as if his gaze pierced into his soul. Nightshade stirred, and opened his eyes. They widened at the sight of Metal Sonic, having a newfound feel of fear, struggling to get out of the mecha's grip.

"…You were just like me." Metal Sonic said after a minute, a light melancholic tone in his voice. Nightshade froze. "A creation meant to be much more, but due to a mere interference, never got to see your full potential. Even at one point, you believed yourself to be at your peak." Metal Sonic's eyes seemed to glow lightly. He proceeded to throw Nightshade across the room. Nightshade's back hit the monitor display, his body hitting the ground. He weakly looked up and found himself looking directly into the Mecha's eyes.

"Go ahead and run. I want to see how long you can survive…" Metal Sonic said. A chuckle emitted from the Metal version of a hero. "I want to see if you can regain your power as I just did." The mecha explained. "I can see that your strength, even now, matches a rival of mines." Mecha spoke the truth. Minus the speed, Nightshade was more powerful than Sonic is. Was.

Hearing all this, Nightshade nodded, not knowing what he would get himself into. But he didn't care. He wanted to escape this powerful being, and go to safely. Where he can live. He didn't know what prompted him to fear the robot. But the fear made him run. After heading out of the doors, he immediately forgot his fear for a brief moment.

He realized that he had no safe haven to return to now. He didn't have time to think about it any further as his fear returned and he started to run. He jumped in his run, tapping his heels together. Though he fell. Nightshade got up and started running again. He jumped again and did the same action. This time, he was successful in his actions. His shoes emitted a purple flame, and he glided off.

He didn't know where he was going, or how long he would skate. Wherever he could find a safe place, he didn't care. He continued to skate off, the Mecha's words still repeating in his ear.

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So what do you think? This chapter probably get's this story a bad start, but it'll get better. Suggestions are very appreciated. Anyways, I'll try to be a bit more active with updates, alright? Until the next update!

-Ayze


	3. Ch 3 : Discovery

And so here is Chapter 3. I feel pathetic. I say I'm not going to slack off, and I update three months later. Some commitment. And it took me about an hour to type this all up. So short... Anyways, this will be one of the shorter chapters. I tried to put more dialouge in. And I tried to keep the characters as much in character as possible. Harder than it seems, I think. Anyways, Here's chapter three.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic the hedgehog series. The only thing I own is parts of the story plot and the character "Nightshade".

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"I've been through this place twice and can't even find a decent clothing store?!" A voice shouted through the night time city.

Rouge walked through Station Square, shopping for something more suitable for wear during the winter. Her usual outfit, she admitted, would not be suitable for the cold, winter weather.

About an hour later, Rouge exited a store, wearing her new, warmer winter clothes, mainly consisted of the colors black and pink. She was eating a candy bar for a snack. Still half of the candy remaining, she tossed it into a trashcan in an alley. She walked off. The trashcan suddenly fell over. She looked into the alleyway, though nothing catching her eye.

_Nothing to worry about…_ Rouge thought. She reached into her purse and pulled out a treasure scope. _But it never hurts to be cautious._ She put them on, and changed the settings. _They still work!_ She smirked. She looked into the alleyway. With the infrared vision, she could see what could have made the trash fall over. Though what caught her attention was what looked like the outline of a small child. Cautiously, she approached the outline, turning off the treasure scope.

She didn't need enhanced hearing she received from the government to hear the child's racing heartbeat. Approaching the child's hiding spot, she kneeled beside the cardboard box the young boy hid in, taking a look at him.

The boy's eyes were full of fear. He had taken discarded food before, but no one ever took the time to see who the culprit was, or had noticed by that matter. He sat unmoving, the half-eaten candy clutched in his hands, fearing what the woman would do.

Rouge, however, was just as surprised as well. She could understand why the boy needed to take the food, but what he looked like confused her. The boy looked exactly like Shadow, except younger.

When Rouge had first met Shadow three years ago, he appeared as a fifteen-year old, though had a mature attitude far beyond his years. This boy looked exactly like he did, minus a few years. Rough quickly noted the similarities. Same face shape, same curves in his eyes, and the same emotions Shadow held in them, but put into a different perspective.

Rouge could have easily mistaken him for Shadow himself, had she not remembered Shadow going to ARK for a final visit after defeating Black Doom.

After a moment, fear kicked into the boy. He kicked away from the ground, moving his box with him away from the woman.

"Get away from me!" He yelled. Rouge inched closer to the boy.

"It's alright. I won't hurt you." She said, trying to comfort him.

"Stay away!!" Nightshade yelled. He reached into what was left of his coat and pulled out a hand gun, aimed at Rouge. _Should I attack to defend myself, or get Shadow and tell him of this...?_

Though Rouge had no time to decide, as the gun immediately flew out of the boy's hand, and Nightshade was pinned to the wall, his feet hovering above the ground, supported up by a hand around his throat. Nightshade's eyes, wide with fear, were staring into piercing crimson eyes.

Shadow just scoffed at the boy, and threw the boy towards the opposite wall. He did not flinch as he heard the sound of the Nightshade hitting the brick wall. He was knocked out.

Rouge didn't know whether to scold Shadow for treating a child so, or thank him, as the child had a weapon and seemed willing to use it.

"Are you injured?" Shadow asked.

Rouge was snapped from her thoughts. "Um, no." She answered. Shadow walked over to the fallen weapon the boy had. Picking it up, he examined the design. It was the standard black of guns, but had two sharp spines; one on the barrel, that extended a few inches towards the user. The same type of spine was found on the underside of the barrel. They had many scratches, due to possible extensive use. After a few moments of examination, he pocketed it. He walked over to the boy.

Rouge watched him for a moment, and then spoke up. "He looks so similar to you. I wasn't sure what to do..." She admitted.

Shadow examined the boy. "Mere coincidence." He said, picking the boy up.

Rouge was confused by Shadow's actions. "Wait, you're taking him with you? You just said that it was only coincidence that-"

"That's not my reason for this. It's his gun." Shadow interrupted, his eyes unchanging.

"His... gun?" Rouge asked confused.

Annoyance showing on Shadow's face, he pulled the gun out and handed it to Rouge.

"Look at what he uses for ammunition." He said as he walked past her.

Confused, Rouge did as she was told. She blinked in surprise. "There is no ammunition clip to load..."

"The 'bullets' he uses are suppose to be his own energy." He said. "It required great energy to fire even a half-powered shot." Shadow explained. He pulled out a Chaos emerald. "Let's head back now." He said.

Rouge looked at him confused. "Wait. Just because of a special weapon, you're taking him with us?" She asked.

He remained silent. Rouge rolled her eyes. She should have expected this. She placed a hand on the green emerald.

_The only thing that interests me is how the boy has the weapon. The doctor had only made one gun like that when he was forced to make weapons, and it was destroyed because it took the life of the weapon holder._ He looked at the boy. _And this weapon just sparks my curiosity just as well..._ Shadow thought before he transported them to Rouge's home.

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So what do you think? I tried to get the idea of the weapon Nightshade had as something that would interest Shadow to wonder how he got it. And just to let you know, Nightshade, in his current state, doesn't even have enough energy to activate the weapon. It gets it's energy from the user and energy sources the user has. Kinda hard for me to explain. Anyways, I'll do my best to get a sooner update. Till next time.

-Ayze


	4. Ch 4 : A Meal

Sorry again. sigh I'm just bad at this updating stuff. Saying I don't have time to get these chapters done for the few reading them, yet I finish this chapter in two hours during summer school, revised and corrected in half an hour, and now posting. Anyways, here's a good 1,500 word chapter. Hope you like.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for Nightshade and the basic plot. Most of it anyway.

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_Soft…_

Nightshade stirred.

_This feels… Soft…_

Slowly, Nightshade could feel more of his surroundings. He breathed through his nose, taking in the air.

_Smells… Clean…_

He felt the temperature around him. It was a cool temperature.

He then listened for sounds. He didn't hear much in the vicinity, though he could hear cars going by outside the building.

Feeling he was safe, he sat up and opened his eyes.

"Awake finally?" A feminine voice spoke nearby.

Nightshade blinked at hearing the voice. He looked at the speaker. She was the same woman with white hair and dark skin from yesterday. His eyes widened. He tried to get up and run, but as soon he stood up, he ended up falling right onto the ground.

He tried to get up using his hands, though found he could not move them from his back. He looked and they were bound together behind his back. He looked at his feet and saw they were tied together as well.

"Sorry kid. Shadow didn't want you getting anywhere. Could've just locked you into a room, but I guessed I would need to keep an eye on you." The woman said. She walked over to Nightshade and got him up and back onto the couch. "Shadow told me to make sure you didn't go anywhere. Don't know why he's interested in you though." She spoke as she left the room.

Nightshade took this moment to look at his surroundings. He was on a black couch, and a glass table was in front of him. The walls, covered in neon lights, were a black color. The lights were off, and light came from multiple electric lanterns hanging that emitted an orange glow that illuminated the room just enough to see the figures of the dark furniture. On one wall, he saw a sign that read 'Club Rouge'. Looking out the window, he saw that it was light outside, the snow falling steadily.

"Hungry?" The woman's voice asked. Nightshade looked over and saw the same woman holding a glass of water in one hand and two apples in the other. He stared at the apples, reminded of how hungry he was. "I'll take that as a yes." She said as she set the apples and water onto the table in front of him.

Nightshade leaned forward to take the items, but was reminded of his bound hands. He looked at the ground.

"…Could you… untie my hands…? Please?" Nightshade asked, barely coherent.

Rouge smiled. "Sorry, what was that?" She asked. She had heard him clearly, but wanted to push him a bit into saying more. She had never heard him speak until now.

"Could you untie my hands? I… want to eat..." The boy spoke, clearly at first, but slowly trailing off to a quiet voice again.

"Alright, but you got to promise that you won't try to run off." Rouge bargained. She felt he would keep his word if he agreed. Besides, if he did try to run off, he wouldn't get far.

Nightshade nodded. The woman walked over and fumbled with the knot. After a moment, his hands were free. Immediately, he took one of the apples, eating it fiercely. After eating around the apple, he proceeded to eat the core. After mercilessly eating the other apple in the same manner, he took the glass and drank all the water in one gulp.

Rouge blinked. Never had she seen a meal eaten at a speed that rivaled Sonic. "Um… You want more?" Rouge asked. The boy nodded the glaze of fear no longer in his eyes. She got up, picked up the empty glass and left the room to get more food. She looked back to the boy. He sat obediently. She chuckled. _The boy's like a pet. Feed them a bit and they listen to your every word._

She went into the food storage and grabbed a few more apples.

"He seems hungry."

"Kyaaa!!" Rouge turned around, her hand already in motion for a killing blow to the head of whoever was behind her. Her hand was caught before it hit her target though. "Oh… Hi Shadow." Rouge said nervously.

"Hmph." He muttered. "What has happened since he's woken up?" Shadow asked.

"Hm? Oh, him? Not much actually. He actually woke up just a few moments ago. I just fed him two apples and a glass of water." Rouge told him. "Where did you run off to last night anyway?"

"Went to GUN. Asked to see the weapons file. Found this." Shadow said, holding up a gun.

"Isn't that his gun?" Rouge asked, referring to the boy.

"It's similar to the boy's weapon, but not quite." He explained. He pulled out the gun that belonged to Nightshade. "Besides having two spines, the boy's gun has a different draw point of energy. It shoots a shot using the users' energy as ammunition. Whereas this gun, it's more of an environmental energy supply. It draws power from the nearest power source." Shadow elaborated.

"So his gun is a modified version of this?" Rouge asked.

"Quite opposite actually."

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked.

"The person who made the weapon was Gerald Robotnik. Though it proved to use too much energy. He had to modify it so soldiers could use it without endangering their lives. The boy's weapon is the original gun."

"Wait, so GUN has modified versions of the gun, though the boy has the original from fifty years ago?" Rouge asked.

"Yes."

"But how did he get it?"

"We're about to find out." Shadow said, walking into the living room.

Nightshade waited patiently in the living room. He loved apples. It was the only food Dr. Robotnik gave him. He heard footsteps, and looked at the source. His eyes widened as fear returned to them.

"I have a few questions to ask you. Don't try to run. I won't show mercy stopping you." Shadow said solemnly, pulling out his gun.

"Shadow, you may be scaring him too much. He's barely spoken to me, you know." Rouge said, though knew her words went unnoticed.

Shadow put the gun to the boys head.

"...'Bring hope to humanity'." Shadow said.

A short moment passed, and Nightshade slumped down into the chair. His blank eyes seemed to hold no soul in them.

Rouge was surprised. "What did you do?"

Ignoring Rouge, Shadow continued. "Name: Gerald. Password: 010395."

"ID confirmed. Open input." Nightshade said monotonously.

"What is your program name?" Shadow asked.

"Modifyshadow.EXE. Program label: Nightshade" Nightshade spoke.

"So his name is Nightshade…" Shadow muttered.

"What did you do to him?" Rouge asked again, her curiosity overwhelming her.

"Program installer's name?" Shadow asked, ignoring Rouge.

"Ivo Robotnik." Nightshade said.

"Eggman. Explains most of this. Open memory. Read memory cache starting from activation date."

"Affirmative… Cache not found. Refer to programming for memory." Nightshade continued.

Shadow cursed. "Scan for other missing files.."

"Scanning… Three programs missing: Weapon.EXE. MAND. Chaos.SOURCE." He named.

"…End user input. Revert to Modifyshadow.EXE." Shadow said.

"Affirmative." After saying those words, Nightshades' eyes closed, fast asleep. His breathing stood as a sign of life in him.

"What did you do!?" Rouge yelled, tired of being ignored.

"I activated his internal compute mode." Shadow told her. "All artificial life, such as mine, has an internal compute mode. Once you set the pass phrase into their system, they work similar to a computer."

"Like a computer…?" Rouge was still figuring the thing out.

"It's useful, but not enough to find about this one. His recorded memory has been erased, though he still has his memories in his head. That's the complicated part of creatures like this. There are two sources for information. One has holes that the other fills, and vice-versa." Shadow told her.

"…Are you like that too? Can you become a computer?" Rouge asked curiously.

"…I can do that, but I lack a pass phrase. I was granted life by Black Doom. His life is made from a free-willed program with an emotion based AI. Though Eggman seems to have removed the emotion part of the AI. He has also probably had a sense of loyalty to the Robotniks programmed into him." Shadow said.

"Ah."

"Nightshade will be out for a while. I'm going to need answers from Dr. Robotnik." Shadow took his gun and pulled out a Chaos emerald.

"His name is Nightshade?" Rouge asked.

"It's his program label. So it's most likely his name as well." Shadow explained.

"But… What was that? When I heard a bit of what he said, he said that he was a 'modify shadow' program. What did that mean?" Rouge asked.

Shadow stood for a moment. "When he wakes up, see what you can get from him. Chaos Control." And with that, Shadow vanished in a green light.

Rouge sighed. "I really wish he'd answer my questions sometimes."

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So what do you think? Anyways, Nightshade's pass phrase is actually the same phrase used on Emerl in Sonic Battle. It was the only thing I could think of at the moment. Anyways, reviews are always welcomed! Ciao-su!

-Ayze


	5. Ch 5 : Answers

Well, this is a surprise. A new chapter and it hasn't been three weeks. Guess I'm getting less lazy, eh? Thank you for the reviews. Anyways, just a warning, Eggman may be out of character for this chapter. I never really paid attention to his character, so his personality is kind of fabricated. And I am not sure if I just used that word correctly...

Disclaimer: Any character, location, or event relating to the Sonic the Hedgehog universe does not belong to me. Nightshade is a character of my creations. Most of the plot is what I came up with.

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"Mwahaha! Add a bit of this and a pinch of that… Oh-ho, this is all just too fun! Just a bit more of this… Now mix my concoction! Mwahaha… MWAHAHAHAHAAA!!" Eggman laughed manically.

"Do you always throw such a fuss when making smoothies?" Shadow asked over the whir of the futuristic blender.

"AHH!! Shadow?! How did you get in here?" Eggman demanded.

"Chaos control. Locked doors stand no chance against me." Shadow simply stated.

"Well, I would rather you leave. Whatever is destroying Station Square or any other place around is not my doing." Eggman waved Shadow off.

"Really? I'd expect that you'd be happily terrorizing people during the holidays." Shadow said.

"Even evil geniuses like me need a break. And prices on mechs go down during this season, so I can stock up, since it's expensive to buy robots that can withstand low temperatures. What do you expect of me? That I spend every waking moment of my life trying to come up with ways to crush that blue-haired punk?" Eggman asked.

"…Yes." Shadow replied.

Eggman sighed. He took a seat in a comfortable-looking chair behind him. "Why are you here?"

"I have questions. I need answers. It regards Nightshade." Shadow told him.

"Nightshade? How did you find him?" Eggman asked, surprised his creation was still alive.

"I'm asking the questions here, doctor." Shadow said. "How did you find the data in order to create him?"

"Feh. My grandfather still had your own data on a back-up file I found hidden in his journal, though some data was obstruct and incomplete. I'm assuming it was a beta of your programming after the Biolizard was deemed a failed project. I simply modified the programming and added structure support to compensate. And he lived." Eggman said, sternly at first, though his voice mellowing near the end of his topic, as if he were proud of his achievements.

"Was the power of Chaos one of the structure support items?" Shadow asked.

Eggman looked at Shadow for a moment "…Yes, it was. It enabled him to use Chaos Control. I had a part of Chaos in a vial from the Perfect Chaos incident for later experimental uses, but I decided to experiment on Nightshade. It was a success, but due to an accident a few months back, he was rendered useless."

"An accident?" Shadow asked, curious.

"Metal Sonic. The blasted mecha came here, demanding upgrades. He already failed me once. No second chances, I say. I brought Nightshade down to eliminate him, but Metal Sonic had a surprise of his own.

"And that was…?"

"He forced Nightshade's Compute Mode and stole a certain file and its compatible system. The power and ability to use the power of Chaos."

"…I see."

"I don't know what other programs were stolen, but afterwards, when I came to, I saw him dashing off."

"I see… I have another question." Shadow said, pulling out Nightshade's gun. "Where did you get this?"

"Eh? Ah. That. I found it on the ARK after the Biolizard, or the Finalhazard if you will, was destroyed. It was useless to me, but I decided to hold onto it. It came to use to Nightshade. It was like it was made for him. He required immense power to function, and the amount needed for a shot was miniscule compared to his power." Eggman said. "But Nightshade is useless to me now. It would be more expensive to fix up the missing programs within him then creating another Egg Carrier." Eggman said, his voice sounding like an old man's.

"So you have no use for him?"

"None."

"…Though I have another question. Why is he a child? If it were my modified files, then it would appear as my age, correct?" Shadow inquired.

"I couldn't figure that out either. I'm assuming there was a hidden program in your original diagrams. All artificial life starts as fetus, and then grows until the age that has been programmed. I was positive that he would be older. The amount it ages to is the one best suited to its power. Though I've read research from others that have made artificial life like this, and most of them appeared well over twenty." His eyes glazed over Shadow. "Though yours and Nightshade's 'births' were both special cases. I've read entries in my grandfather's journal. When you were first created, you were actually younger than you are now. About the same as Nightshade, I'm assuming. My grandfather was puzzled about this. What made it more baffling was that it seemed that you grew." Eggman said, his slight confusion apparent in his voice. "When artificial life is fully grown to their peak age, they age, but at five times a slower rate, but in the span of a month, you had aged eight years."

"I aged that fast…?" Shadow asked.

Eggman continued. "I was confused by this topic. When Nightshade aged to his peak age, he remained that age. Unlike you, after five months, he still appeared as a child. Though hearing your words that he still is a child, he has not aged as you did even after two years."

"…I see. That will be all, doctor." Shadow said, pulling out a red chaos emerald.

"Wait, don't you want to stay for some smoothies?" Eggman offered.

Shadow rolled his red eyes and transported out of the base.

"…I made extra too. Oh well, more for me!" Eggman happily said.

Rouge looked at Nightshade as he appeared to be simply sleeping. She still found it hard to believe that he was meant to be a weapon.

Rouge was still confused about the boy's relation to Shadow. To her, the boy looked just like Shadow in physical sense. They seemed to have the same face shape, eye slant, even the way Nightshade's hair naturally flowed into spikes, the spikes leaning up towards the back of his head, though she noticed that the spikes pointed up at a lower point. And those eye marks… They continued a short path from his eyes and sharply turned down to the bottom of his eyes. The color inside were black, as similar to the same markings on Shadow, except Red.

Even their shoes were similar. Rouge looked at Nightshade's shoes, as they were similar to Shadows, but they seemed more compact, as opposed to Shadows, whose shoes were more bulky, though knew they were hover shoes, as the bottom had what looked like miniature rocket engines, as Shadow's does. The shoes were a black color.

But mental-wise, she could tell a big difference. Whenever she looked at Shadow, no matter what emotion he showed, there was always a tint of grief. When she looked at Nightshade's face, she could not find any sign of hidden emotion. She looked at his hands. They were like a child's hands, as Nightshade is. But they were meant to be weapons, just like Nightshade is.

Rouge shook her head. "This thinking is getting me tired… I might as well take a quick nap. I doubt the kid's going to get anywhere." She said before relaxing a bit on the couch.

Nightshade stirred. His eyes opened. He sat up. "When did I fall asleep…?" He looked around, seeing the same woman from before asleep in the couch opposite the one he was on. He blinked. His gaze then turned to the door. He began to get up.

_But you got to promise that you won't try to run off._

He remembered his promise and sat back down.

"I'm still hungry…" Nightshade muttered. He turned his head, remembering where the tan-skinned woman got the apples from. He silently walked towards the room. Nightshade immediately saw the apples in a small basket on the counter. Smiling, he picked up a few, and then started back to the previous room, but his attention was stolen by a tall white box with two black handles. He walked towards it, curiosity grabbing him. He set his apples on the counter, and slowly reached his hand out to one of the two handles. He opened the door.

He gasped softly at the sight of the white box's contents. There were all kinds of things in it, including his beloved apples. There was a jug of what looked like his apples on it. He saw a bowl full of small green orbs. He saw reddish-orange balls in a bag in a drawer near the bottom. He saw orange balls too. He saw a few strange-looking, small red things with seeds on them.

He figured that this was where the apples are stored, so it's possible that these other things were edible too! Nightshade. The practical clone of the ultimate life form looked like a kid in a candy store and was just told he could have all he wanted at no cost to him at all.

Of course, that meant _someone _had to pay for the goods.

Nightshade happily began his feast.

--

So there you have it. Hope you are enjoying this so far. Review if you'd like. Reviews, if they are positive, heighten my self-esteem for this story and may cause me to get another chapter done quickly. But if you don't, it's alright. I shall continue until people like the story! Mwahaha! Anyways, continue on, whether it be a review or just nagivating to another story that interests you.

-Ayze


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